Online shopping has gained high popularity in recent years, as customers are able to shop at a time and place that suits them, and often at a lower price than in a traditional bricks-and-mortar store. Clothing and electronics are particularly popular items purchased by online shopping.
A problem with online shopping is that a customer cannot try on or test an item before purchase, as is often possible in a bricks-and-mortar store. Accordingly, certain customers perceive a higher risk associated with online purchases, and thus are reluctant to purchase online.
Several attempts have been made to alleviate this problem, for example by allowing customers to return items at a minimal cost. A problem with providing low or no cost returns for online purchases is that postage costs can become significant for a merchant, and such costs must eventually be borne by consumers through higher prices.
More recently, systems have been designed that enable customers to virtually “try-on” an item. For example, in the case of glasses and sunglasses, systems exist where the customer is able to upload an image of themselves, to which an image of a frame of the glasses is overlaid and presented to the customer. Certain systems also enable the use of video, wherein the frame of the glasses is overlaid over several images that form a video sequence.
Such systems may help a customer choose a style of glasses, but provide little information with respect to how the glasses fit the customer. For example, a certain pair of glasses may, despite having a suitable style, be too large or too small for a customer.
Other systems exist where a customer is able to upload his or her measurements, to which a fit of an item is determined. The customer can then be informed if the item is likely to be too large or too small. Such systems require, however, detailed input from the customer, which can be time consuming to provide. Similarly, certain items, such as glasses, fit to a shape of a face rather than to typical clothing measurements, and thus systems that merely process basic measurements are not particularly suited to these items.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system of estimating 3D facial geometry.